Alarm attachment for telephones



(No Model.) A

` C. LANZ.

ALARM ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES.

No. 246,792. Patented Sept. 6,1881.

TRAMA arnnr larice.

CHARLES LANZ, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

ALARM ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 246,792, datedSeptember 6, 1881. Application filed January 17, 1881. -(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OnARLns LANZ, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Alarm Attachments for Telephones; and I do hereby declarethe following to beafull, clear, and exact description thereof,referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure lis a perspective view, partly brokenaway, of my improved telephone attachment, and Fig. 2 is alike view ofthe apparatus from another position.

Like letters ot' reference indicate like parts in each.

Myinvention relates to certain improvements in telephone attachments tobe used in works where it is desired to give the alarm in the works tocall a person into the office to answer the telephone. Where thetelephone is placed in the ofiice of works, and where the clerk issometimes employed out ofthe ofce, it frequently happens that no personis in the office to answer the call, and as the bell is not sufficientlyloud to be heard all over the works the call is not answered. By myimprovement the alarm is also sounded by the steam-whistle, which can beheard in any part of the Works, thus summoning the person to the officeto answer the call.

My invention consists, lirst, in mechanism provided withwhistle-signaling apparatus, ap paratus having a reciprocating motion,approaching but not comingin contact with the signaling apparatus, amagnet, and a pivoted armature adapted, when attracted by the magnet, toconnect the signaling` apparatus and reciprocating apparatus to give thealarm, an d, second, in certain improvements in the construction andarrangement of the mechanism.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willdescribe its construction and operation.

In the drawings, A is the frame ot the machine, in the lower part ofwhich the shaft B is mounted in suitable bearings, the shaft be` ingrotated by a pulley, b, around which a traveling belt passes, or byclock-work or other suitable power. Rigidly attached at one end of theshaft is the eccentric D, around which the yoke E tits, the yoke beingprovided with an arm, c, pivoted to the frame A above the eccentric. Theeccentric by its revolution imparts a reciprocating motion to the yoke,so that it swings back and forth toward the whistlesignaling apparatus,as hereinafter described.

Mounted in a suitablejournal, g, secured in thefrarneinline with'themovement of the yoke E is the longitudinallymoving shaft F, carrying thehead h, which extends ont so that the yoke in its movement approachesclose to the head, but does not come in contact with it. At the oppositeend of the journal g are the brackets k, which extend up abovethejournal, and between which is pivoted the lever l, at the end ofwhich lever a wire, m., is attached, this wire connecting with a valve,c, on the steam-whistle C at the boiler. rlhe short arm l of the leverextends below the arms 7c and rests against the end of the shaftf in thejournal g, so that when a longitudinal movement is imparted to the shaftit presses against the lower end of the lever and causes it to draw backthe wire, thus opening the valve on the steam-whistle and giving thealarm.

The journal g and brackets 7c are formed together, the outer surface ofthe journal heilig cylindrical and larger than the head h of the shaftf,and the journal carrying the shaft is passed through a cylinder, a, 011the frame and secured therein by a set-screw, a', the

throw of the lever being regulated by the position of thejournal in thecylinder.

By making the journal cylindrical and littingit within a cylinder on theframe I am lalso enabled to throw the lever l on an an gie whennecessary, so that it may have a more direct draw or pull on thewhistle-valve.

Supported on the rigid arms a2, extending out on the other side of theframe A, is the magnet N, and pivoted to the fraineA lby the horizontalbar p is the armature P. The armature l? is provided with a swingingarm, r, carrying a flat weight or block, w, the weight serving to raisethe armature from the magnet and hold it in that position when thecircuit is broken. Vhen, however, the line or circuit is connected themagnet draws the armature down, thus throwing the block w between theyoke E and head h of the shaftf, so that upon the revolution of theeccentric the yoke presses IOO the weight w against the head h tooperate the whistle-signaling apparatus. The magnet N is connected' bythe wires u n' with the alarm r bell circuit of the telephone eitherbetween the alarm-bell and main line or between the alarm and groundwire, the circuit being carried through the magnet, so that it is onlyoperated when the alarm is given, aud when the current is thrown on thedirect circuit the magnet is cut ott' with the bell-circuit.

The operation of my improved signaling apparatus is as follows: Theshaft Bis rotated by any suitable power mechanism, and by means of theeccentric D imparts a reciprocating motion to the pivoted yoke E, thismotion of the yoke beingcon tinuous. When the bell-circuit isdisconnected, or the electric current is not passing over it to give analarm, the armature, not beingattracted by the magnet, is held away fromit by the weight, and, as the yoke cannot come in contact with thesignaling apparatus, no alarm on the whistle is given. When a call isgiven at the telephone the electric current passing along thebell-circuit attracts the arlnature, drawing it down to the magnet, andconsequently throws the block w on the swinging arm between the yoke Eand head 71when upon each revolution of the eccentric the yoke pressesthe block against the shaft j', which in turn presses out the short armof the lever l, thus causing the lever to draw back the wire m and openthe whistle-valve c to give the alarm. As the yoke is drawn back by theeccentric the pressure on the lever is relieved and the whistle-valveclosed until, on the rotation of the eccentric, the wire is drawn backbythe same means, the mechanism thus giving the alarm by a series ofshort whistles at the boiler in the works whenever a call is made on thetelephone and summoning any person to the ofiice to answer. As soon asthe electric current ceases or the bell-circuit is disconnected and thedirect circuit made, the weight or block raises the armature ot' themagnet, at the same time dropping from between the yoke and shaft-head,and thus breaking the connection between them and preventing thewhistlealarm from being given.

If two or more telephones are connected on the same wire the apparatusserves to give the same whistle-alarm as is sounded on the bellas, forinstance, where two or three calls indicate a certain otice, thearmature being attracted to the magnet whenever the' current passesthrough the magnet, thus connecting the signaling apparatus, and beingraised from the magnet when the current ceases,thus disconnecting thesignaling apparatus.

It is evident that different means may be employed for operating thereciprocating apparatus-such as by a crammed-and the operation of themechanism be practically the same.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In telephone attachments, the combination ot' signaling apparatus,reciprocating apparatus, andan armature provided with ablock, saidarmature being adapted, when attracted by the magnet, to draw the blockbetween the signaling apparatus and reciprocating apparatus and connectthem to give the alarm, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the signaling apparatus, the rotatingeccentricand reciprocating yoke, the magnet, and the pivoted armature P,carrying the block w, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In combination with the reciprocating apparatus, the magnet, thepivoted armature P, carrying the block w, the longitudinally-movingshat't f, and lever l., substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. rlhe combination of the cylindrical journal g, carrying theshaftj'and lever l, with the cylinder on the frame and the set-screw a',substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said CHARLES LANZ, have hereunto set myhand.

CHARLES LANZ.

Titnesses F. G. KAY, JAMES I. KAY.

